Maarehaa Kandu

Maarehaa Kandu is dived as a guided channel drift on the eastern side of Huvadhoo. The descent is prompt, toward an outer wall of ledges and overhangs at the mouth of the channel, where a pause on the edge lets the current deliver whatever is passing. From there the drift carries on deeper into the channel, where the bottom turns sandier and turtles, stingrays and fusiliers are reported over hard-coral patches. The mouth is open blue water, so the first minutes belong to the guide's briefing and the line you hold.

The wall at the channel mouth is the stage. Ledges and overhangs break the flow along the outer edge, and incoming water pushes open-ocean traffic past a diver holding still there, with sandy floor and coral patches waiting further in once the drift moves on. Silvertip and grey reef sharks have been seen cruising by together, which puts two shark species in one stretch of current.

A day to picture is 27 January 2018, in a medium to strong southeast incoming current: silvertips and grey reefs, Napoleon wrasse, a school of seven eagle rays and a big school of jacks in the background, in 15-18 m visibility. The same guests repeated the channel the next day and met sharks again.

The edge of the wall is the working spot, and a reef hook is how a group holds it while the flow runs. The briefing sets the line at the mouth, which faces blue water. Incoming flow is the phase to ask the guide for, since the dive leans on moving water.